I have been trying to figure out a way to bake bread in a very hot oven,
600 - 700 F. Last week I decided to try baking in a wood fired cast iron
Dutch oven I had laying around, just for grins. I figured the worst that
could happen is I'd get burned and/or my bread would be ruined. It rained
the next few days and today was the first time I've had the chance to try
it. Here's what happened.
Recipe: I used a plain white bread leavened with SF sourdough
starter. The flour was KA unbleached bread flour. The recipe was pretty
much Peter Reinhart's SF sourdough bread.
Technique: I heated the Dutch Oven directly in the flames until it was
about as hot as it was going to get. Then I took the lid off and put the
lid in the fire while I went to get the loaf. I put the loaf on a wooden
peel with lots of cornmeal on it. I took the loaf out to the DO and
removed the DO from the fire, but left the lid. I put lots of cornmeal in
the bottom of the DO, it started smoking almost immediately, and then slid
the loaf into the DO. I spritzed the loaf and the inside of the oven with
about seven or ten squirts of water and placed the lid on it
immediately. As a matter of fact, I had the lid ready to place on the oven
before I started spritzing. I then placed the oven back on the fire but
this time on a small bunch of coals and put a few coals on the lid as
well. I'm not sure of the temp of the oven as I seem to have lost my oven
thermometer. But it was about as hot as I could make it.
About a minute or so into the bake, I lifted the lid ever so slightly and
spritzed the inside of the oven again.
The loaf took about 15 minutes to cook and had an oven spring of about
twice the height of the loaf. I cut the loaf twice before putting it into
the oven, but in retrospect, I would have cut it 3 or 4 times. It was a
small loaf, about 6 by 9 or so and oval in shape.
Folks, if this is the kind of bread I can expect from a wood fired masonry
oven, wild horses can't stop me from making one. The crumb is perfect,
with some rather large irregular holes all the way down to small ones. The
crust is crunchy, but not tough. It didn't stick to the DO at all. Came
right out. The loaf has a slight smoky flavor.
Conclusion: Although a bit more trouble than using your kitchen oven, this
loaf is hands down the best loaf I have ever managed to bake. I baked
another loaf from the same batch in the regular oven using Peter Reinhart's
technique for baking artisan breads, and although good, does not compare to
the D.O. loaf.
Dale Baker